"New details are emerging on the reason a national forensics board suspended the D.C. crime lab’s accreditation to conduct forensic testing, with the board saying it has “credible evidence” the lab deliberately concealed information and engaged in fraudulent behavior. WTOP obtained a copy of the April 2 letter from the ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB) to D.C. Department of Forensic Sciences Director Jenifer Smith describing the reason for the suspension. The letter makes clear the suspension is directly linked to allegations outlined in court documents by a team of experts retained by federal prosecutors and the D.C. attorney general’s office to probe the lab’s Firearms Examination Unit after the discovery of a faulty ballistics analysis.
Referring to that report, which was filed in D.C. Superior Court last month and first reported by WTOP, the letter stated: “ANAB has received credible evidence that the D.C. Department of Forensic Sciences, Forensic Science Laboratory Division, has deliberately concealed information from the ANAB assessment team, violated accreditation requirements, engaged in misrepresentations and fraudulent behavior, and engaged in conduct that brings ANAB into disrepute.”
The suspension, which was first reported over the weekend, applies to a wide range of forensic science testing, including the analysis of DNA, firearms and fingerprint evidence. The letter from ANAB also makes clear that while the suspension is temporary, the board is already “initiating the process” for withdrawing the lab’s accreditation entirely. The suspension of the lab’s accreditation is uncommon and it’s unclear what will happen if DFS loses its appeal as well as how its substantial caseload of forensic testing would be handled. Under the D.C. legislation creating DFS as an independent agency, the lab is required to be accredited. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said at a news conference Monday her administration would be “fully defending” the lab’s practices but that she wanted a full investigation into the issues raised.
Federal prosecutors and the D.C. attorney general’s office retained a team of three experts last spring to look into the lab’s firearms unit following the discovery of a series of errors that led to the lab erroneously linking cartridge casings from two 2015 killings to the same gun."
https://wtop.com/dc/2021/04/new-details-what-led-forensics-board-to-suspend-dc-crime-labs-accreditation/